July 26th, 2017

Hi Everyone!I know that translations in to latin get tricky because of language differences and what makes sense in English may not translate well in to Latin word for word.

My grandfather's dying words were: "What we must is not always what we want." He realized that nothing else could be done as he awaited his last moments. Everything else had been done. This is to put it in to context.

I received one translation that reads: Facienda non semper placent.

Is this a good translation? I know you advise against latin tattoos which have been translated from another language and that is exactly why I am asking for HELP. Would it make sense?

March 13th, 2016

Hello, looking for a place that sells harina pan (the powder to make traditional colombian/venezuelan "arepas"). I know of markets that sell per unit but I've got a big family and friends that would like to buy at least 20 at once with discount.

January 2nd, 2014

Attempting to translate "to suffer is to grow" and unsure about proper verb pairings...

"to endure suffer or hardship" and "to become better" or "to evolve"... even when i think i've got it, it sounds wrong. i'm working with a freshman understanding of the language, and could really use some help.

May 28th, 2013

salvete omnes, here in Canada we have this incredibly ridiculous saying that is driving me nuts. So I was wondering what the Latin translation would be. The phrase is " it is what it is" most people in the office think I am odd so I thought why not use the same phrase in Latin. My translation would be EST QUID EST, any thougths?

April 4th, 2013

Hello there! My friend asked me for help in making sure this is correct in Latin:

It is suppose to say in English:

I set afire this magical material and it increases in unshaken power exceedingly high.

Here is his attempt in Latin:

Inflammitio ego magus materia et inconcussus praecelsus potestas.

I know there are errors in that Latin, but I haven't had a Latin class in more than 4 years. Sadly, I have forgotten more than I thought I did in that span of time. I really don't have time to dig up and look over my old notes to refresh my memory, and I'm sure this would be a piece of cake to anyone who is actively studying Latin! Thank you so much in advance for anyone's help!

March 26th, 2013

I hope that this is within the community guidelines. You all are always so helpful, and I'm very stuck.

So, I’m in school studying to become a Latin teacher, and in my general methods of teaching class this semester we had to do microteachings of a “concept lesson” — something basically outside of content. So the math teachers taught the “concepts” of equality, proofs, and ratios without numbers. The history teachers talked about the “concepts” of liberty, industrialization, and source material without any specific events.

I… got very stuck. I couldn’t think of any overarching “concepts” related to Latin (or any language!) that can be taught separately from the language itself. I can’t point out “real-life uses of the dative case” the way a math teacher can point out real-life ratios.

September 13th, 2012

Hello. Just wondering: two logical fallacies commonly go by their Latin names, post hoc ergo propter hoc and cum hoc ergo propter hoc. If I wanted, in Latin, to correct someone who committed these fallacies, what would I say? I was thinking that I'd just replace "ergo" with "non" or maybe "sed non"; does that seem right?

June 20th, 2012

I'm trying to compile a fairly comprehensive list of the uses of the ablative, because I like lists and I like learning from lists, and I ran into this thing--the ablative of association. Thing is, it's not in Wheelock's, nor in the other textbook that I'm referring to (D'Ooge); it only shows up, as far as I can Google, in Bennett's New Latin Grammar (which is not exactly new any more). Which piqued my curiosity: is this just a peculiarity of Bennett? Has this use of the ablative been subsumed in later classifications of the uses? Or is he being ultra-thorough in his listing? Hard to imagine Wheelock's missing much, though.

For reference, this is the NLG's explanation:

"The Ablative is often used with verbs of joining, mixing, clinging, exchanging; also with assuēscō, cōnsuēscō, assuēfaciō, and some others to denote association; as,—

March 17th, 2012

I asked an acquaintance for helping translating the phrase "Let me see if my pattern will fit you." The sentence is spoken by a seamstress, so in this case "pattern" is referring to a pattern for making clothes. He suggested the following:

March 16th, 2012

Hello , I'm Anna and I'm from Portugal. I'm in my second semester (first year) of university and i just have latin. I love it really much. But I do have some doubts regarding this locative subject. I have some sentences to translate into Latin, using the locative case (they were in portuguese but I'll translate them into english) if someone can help me. Thanks , in advance *

March 8th, 2012

I'm looking to attend an intensive advanced Latin summer school this summer and am wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I've found quite a few sites for Latin summer schools online but they're mostly at the beginner/intermediate level; what I'm looking for isn't grammar/vocabulary practice so much as the opportunity to spend a few weeks immersed in reading as much Classical prose and poetry as possible.

February 25th, 2012

Does anyone happen to know if there exists somewhere a list of all the published translations of Vergil's Aeneid that have been made into English? I suspect there must be one. It's not proving easy to find, though, especially when every book on Vergil seems to be out of the university library (gr). I wondered whether Gransden's Virgil in English Penguin volume might have a list, but that too is of course out of the library.

January 31st, 2012

I'm pretty sure "E tenebrae lux" means what I want it to, namely "From darkness, light." (As sure as I can be without actually knowing the language, and while using multiple online sources.) But I'm not entirely sure, would "E lux tenebrae" mean "From light, darkness"? Does a comma after lux change the meaning significantly? ("E lux tenebrae" versus "E lux, tenebrae") If so, does "E tenebrae lux" also need a comma? Also, if I'm making any other glaring errors, I would like to know. Thanks in advance!

Edit: it now occurs to me I may be using the wrong form of tenebrae. I know very little about Latin construction, I'm afraid.

November 20th, 2011

I have a query about the motto on the coat of arms of the Earls of St Germans (that's in Cornwall). About half the Google entries cite it as 'Occurunt nubes'; the other half say 'Occurrent nubes'.

I can remember just about enough Latin to know that that means "Clouds occur [figuratively, "Shit happens"] but not enough to know whether one of those spellings is just wrong, or if one is the present and one the future tense. Can anyone tell me?

November 13th, 2011

A friend of mine decided to get a tattoo this weekend. Moreso, he decided to get it in Latin.. without asking anyone for some help with proper translations or anything!

So, in the hope of making sure he hasn't made a terrible, terrible mistake, could someone let me know if his decision to get 'neutiquam erro' tattooed in fancy letters on his arm was at least grammatically correct, if not in generally poor taste?

But as you can see, that's seven.... but I can't figure out where I am wrong.

Line 187 and Line 193, I think I might get it, but I need to know. Is Moenia, 4 syllables: Mo E Ni A, or 3: Moe Ni A. Cause I am taking it as four, but I think it's only three and that's messing up my meter. (if that is not the case then something else is messing it up, and I'll post the lines. But I think it's that.)

And finally

Line 197: Quos neque Tydides Ned Larisaeus Achilles.

My attempt: Quos neque | Ty | dides | nec La | ri sa| eus A| chilles. So it would be: D Random Syllable S S S D SThough, I think this line might be Spondaic? Cause the A being long by position, however, it's a Greek name, so I think that rule may not apply...